CTC Harmony Document magazine cover

Harmony Program

The CTC launched the Harmony Program in 2005 in order to release and analyze documents from the Department of Defense’s Harmony database. The focus of this program is to contextualize the inner-functioning of al-Qa’ida, its associated movement, and other security threats through primary source documents. Harmony products released by the CTC are typically accompanied by an analytical report and the primary source material from which its conclusions are based. By releasing this material, the CTC aims to make these sources, which are captured in the course of operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other theaters, available to other scholars for further study.

While captured documents offer unique insight into the decision-making process of terrorist groups they are most valuable when contextualized with information drawn from other sources. Scholars and practitioners should be aware that analyzing such data is fraught with risk. Documents in the Harmony database were collected on the battlefield unscientifically. There is no way to know just how representative documents captured by U.S. forces are of the larger body of information produced by al‐Qa`ida or other insurgents. Likewise, the vast database in which they are stored is imperfect and virtually impossible to search systematically. Readers and researchers should therefore be wary of conclusions drawn from Harmony documents alone.

Featured Documents

`Atiyah’s Letter to Zarqawi

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This is a letter from `Atiyah `Abd al-Rahman, mostly known as `Atiyatullah al-Libi, to Abu Mus`ab al-Zarqawi. The letter was...

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Zawahiri’s Letter to Zarqawi

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This is a critical letter from Ayman al-Zawahiri to Abu Mus`ab al-Zarqawi in which the author presents his strategy of...

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Letter from UBL to `Atiyatullah Al-Libi 4

SOCOM-2012-0000019

This document is a long letter authored by Usama bin Ladin after the death of Sheikh Sa'id (Mustafa Abu'l-Yazid) in...

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Lessons Learned from the Jihad Ordeal in Syria

AFGP-2002-600080

This is a lengthy document that examines the jihad waged by the Muslim Brotherhood against the Syrian regime of Hafiz...

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Filter Harmony Documents

Title

Description

Reference Number

  • Caliphate Complaint Box 304

    This complaint is from a man who says he pledged allegiance to Islamic State, but then had to leave his...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 303

    This complaint is from a woman who states that Hisbah came into her house, didn’t allow the women to cover,...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 302

    The complainant alleges that, after Ramadi was conquered, he fired his weapon in the air. Nearby security personnel confiscated his...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 301

    This complaint is from an individual who found some fish tanks, cleaned them out, and then some Islamic State members...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 300

    This complaint alleges that the complainant’s brother was arrested and his ID confiscated because he was smuggling cigarettes. However, when...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 299

    This complaint alleges that a brother hit another brother and then his wife because of family problems.

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 298

    This complaint is from an individual who alleges that, after being told that his uncle did not have a woman...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 297

    This is not an official form, but a paper that contains notes. It depicts a dispute over property ownership, which...

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